Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas

Cold Hearted RakeNarrated by Mary Jane Wells

I have a confession to make. While I have loved some of Lisa Kleypas’ contemporary novels (Blue Eyed Devil is one of my favourite books), I’ve had no success with her historicals. Admittedly, until Cold-Hearted Rake, I’d only tried two – but I hated the first one with the passion of a thousand fiery suns and I was “meh” on the second. Why review a Lisa Kleypas historical then? That’s a fair question. I wanted to understand why her historical romances are so beloved. So many of my friends love them; I was completely missing the party. So third time’s the charm right? Actually, this time, it was.

I think I’d have enjoyed the book far less had I read it, however. I don’t think I’d have actively hated it, but I think it would have only been slightly better than ‘meh’ at best. However, with the excellent narration of Mary Jane Wells, this book was pretty delightful. Mary Jane Wells is my new favourite historical romance (female) narrator.

Devon Ravenel has recently inherited the earldom of Trenear. His cousin, Theo, had the bad sense to break his neck riding while in a temper and now the deeply indebted estate is Devon’s to manage. He is not happy about this. Theo left Eversby Priory in a dilapidated mess and his three young sisters, Helen (21) and twins Pandora and Cassandra (19) with no dowry. He also left behind a widow, Kathleen, Lady Trenear.

Kathleen had only been married to Theo for three days when he died and she feels deep guilt for her part in Theo’s death; they were fighting immediately before he went riding on a high-spirited, sensitive, Arabian horse – a wedding gift from Kathleen’s father.

Devon and Kathleen don’t hit it off immediately. He finds her to be a stickler for the proprieties and altogether too uptight and shrewish and she finds him to be a dissolute, lackadaisical rake who cares nothing for anyone other than himself. They both have a point – perhaps her more than him. I think I’d have likely read the “banter” between them in the beginning sections of the book as angry and bitter. However, Ms. Wells’ depiction of these scenes made the underlying URST (UnResolved Sexual Tension) obvious and instead, these arguments became a kind of foreplay.

I find I’m a more patient listener than reader and so, the somewhat lengthy descriptions of etiquette rules, home renovations, orchid propagation and land management did not bore me as they may have done had I read the book. In fact, I was interested in the story all the way through.

Devon’s brother Weston (West for short) helps Devon with the estate after the decision is made to keep it, and he and the Ravenel sisters (particularly the twins) make for some delightful listening. The twins are wide-eyed innocent hoydens and Pandora especially is always getting into some kind of trouble. West is initially dissipated and overweight as a result of his lifestyle, which mainly consisted of being drunk most of the time. However, working on the estate, he becomes a new man and his transformation, not just Devon’s, was also fun to witness.

There is quite a bit of series setup in this book and that means that the romance between Devon and Kathleen is somewhat abridged. I enjoyed what there was, but it is not a book which spends loads of time with the main couple’s courtship.

There is a secondary romance which sets up the second book in the series – one I am very keen to read and/or listen to now – between Helen and Devon’s friend Rhys Winterbourne. Winterbourne is not an aristocrat. He owns the department store, Winterbournes and is very wealthy however. He aspires to the upper crust and a good marriage to someone from the ton is one way to do it. For Helen, he is perhaps a step down but without a dowry, her only other marriage alternative is to find a rich old guy. Rhys is handsome and young and, he and Helen do make something of a connection. For a while I thought their romance might be resolved in Cold-Hearted Rake but it is not. Things are not looking up for them by the end of this book. Their HEA awaits the publication of the second book in the series. I’ll be interested in how it all works out because Rhys did something I didn’t like much near the end and his characters became less heroic to me – I expect he will be redeemed in the next instalment but I’m curious as to how.

I enjoyed the secondary cast of Cold-Hearted Rake very much; the scene where the twins were shopping at Winterbournes made me laugh and I liked the way West and Devon got along together as well.

I also enjoyed the Victorian setting (1875), which felt fresh and different when compared to my usual historical romance listening/reading.

What really made the book for me however, was the narration. I just don’t think I could have made the characters so lively and sympathetic in my own head. There was something so transformative about Ms. Wells’ performance. I’d seen some friends complain about the lack of page time of the main romance and about some of the tropes used but really, it all worked pretty well for me on audio and so much of that was in the narration.

I liked Ms. Wells’ character voices; her male cast members didn’t have exceptionally deep tones, but they were noticeably different from the women and I was easily able to buy into the fantasy. She is also very skilled with accents. Rhys’ Welsh cadence was excellent and the regional dialects of some of the tenant farmers and servants also stood out to me. Ms. Wells’ upper crust voice sounded a little less posh and a little more accessible and I think this helped me enjoy the story too. Posh can often sound remote and had I heard Devon bickering with Kathleen that way, I don’t think I’d have liked him half so well.

This is one story where the narration elevates the text; if listeners are tossing up whether to get the audiobook or the print version, my vote is definitely go audio.

[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]

Kaetrin


AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Cold Hearted Rake

AUTHOR: Lisa Kleypas

NARRATED BY: Mary Jane Wells

GENRE: Historical Romance

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: Kaetrin [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014EASZ8U/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Cold Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas on Amazon[/button] [section label=’Excerpt’ anchor=’Excerpt’]EXCERPT:

8 thoughts on “Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas

  1. Fab review – and ITA with your opinion of the narration. Ms Wells is terrific and I hope to hear a lot more of her!

  2. Great review, Kaetrin! Because of it I bought the audiobook and I’m loving it. I am a huge fan of Lisa Kleypas -save for a couple of her early works- and her Wallflowers and Hathaways series are among my top ten historicals. However, I always thought that the audiobooks for those books detracted from their charm. This is absolutely not the case. Mary Jane Wells is superb at performing female and male voices. Moreover, she has the ability to convey a world of meaning and feeling with a subtle change in her pitch and rythm as well as well placed pauses. Her acting chops are evident in her narration. I suppose the accents are superb too. Neither being a native speaker nor having ever lived in an English speaking country I can’t tell, but I enjoy them nevertheless. I really hope she keeps narrating Lisa Kleypas’ historicals and would love for her to keep expanding her list of authors.

  3. Oh thank you Bea. I’m so glad you’re enjoying CHR on audio.

    I’m Australian but very familiar with British and Welsh accents and, as Caz says, yes, Wells definitely delivers with the accents.

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